It was over before the game started at the Haas Pavilion.
Florida State women’s basketball (13-4, 3-2) suffered its worst season defeat to Cal, 82-70, on Sunday, leaving its two-game road trip empty-handed after losing to both Stanford and Cal.
“You’ve got to be solid defensively. and we weren’t that at Stanford,” FSU coach Brooke Wyckoff said.
“We let them just get things just way too easy. So yeah, you can’t take anything for granted, and this is a good learning lesson. It’s still early, so I’m confident we can learn from it and be better.”
The Seminoles had a rough shooting performance from the start of tipoff when they missed seven straight baskets. FSU shot 24 for 63 from the field and 5 for 19 from behind the arc.
While for the Golden Bears, it seemed almost impossible to stop them on the floor led by the slash sisters Lulu Twidale and Ioanna Krimili. Both combined for 27 points and totaled 15 for 34 in field goals.
“We didn’t get stops. You can’t get fast breaks points when you don’t get stops, that was it. I mean, that was it,” Wyckoff said.
“When we did run, get out and transition, they did a great job of taking away the paint. It made it really tough in the paint for us and forced us to shoot some jumpers. So it was a combination of those two things, I think.”
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Cal shuts down FSU basketball star Ta’Niya Latson; Makayla Timpson, Amaya Bonner step up
The Golden Bears owned the Seminoles in the first two quarters, leading 50-25 at the half.
Ta’Niya Latson was held to 13 points. She didn’t make a field goal basket until the fourth quarter. Cal’s defense put multiple bodies on her, making it difficult for the nation’s top scorer to get to the basket.
“They sent multiple people to her when she had the ball in her hands. They were big, and we didn’t get any stops in the first half,” Wyckoff said.
“When we’re at our best, and we created space, when we’re getting stops, and we can get out and run.”
Four Seminoles finished in double figures.
Makyla Timpson became FSU’s top scorer and recorded her 40th career double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Timpson is one double-double shy from tying Natasha Howard’s career record with 41.
Fremont, California native Amaya Bonner sparked the bench with 14 points against her former team. Wyckoff was thrilled to see her be productive coming off the bench.
“She came in just with a great attitude, really confident, and stepped up and did some great things on the offensive end and the defensive end. So really proud of her,” Wyckoff said.
O’Mariah Gordon added 12 points and three assists. Sydney Bowles, who made her first start in an fSU uniform, finished 10 points.
While the game was out of reach heading into the fourth quarter, the Seminoles fought to the end, outscoring the Golden Bears 24-10 and cutting Cal’s lead from 33 to 12.
It was not enough to win, but for Wyckoff, it could bring confidence when they return home.
“What I love about this team is they don’t quit,” Wyckoff said.
“Despite being down a ton at halftime, they came out, and they fought, and this is a really good basketball team we just faced, and a tough place to play, and so this was a huge learning experience for us this week, and I know we’ll take the good from it, and we’ll learn from the bad and be ready to go next Thursday.”
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What’s next for FSU basketball
FSU will be looking to bounce back and end its losing slump. The Seminoles are also looking to gather some quality wins in the ACC and will have the opportunity to do so in the next four games.
Starting on Thursday, the Seminoles will host Clemson (10-7, 3-3) at the Donald L. Tucker Center at 6 p.m. Then will return to their home court to face its rival, Miami (11-5, 1-4), at 2 p.m.
The following week, FSU is back on the road to take on No. 19 North Carolina (15-3, 3-2) on Sunday, Jan. 26, at noon, and then Boston College (10-8, 1-4) on Thursday at 6 p.m. to end the month.
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Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: No. 24 FSU basketball ends two-game road trip winless after loss to No. 25 Cal
